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"Kusina" = Kitchen; "Manang" = older sister

A Filipina's unabashed chronicle of her adaptations in the American kitchen. Includes step-by-step photos on how to make pan de sal, ensaymada, pan de coco, siopao, hopia, pandelimon, pianono, atsara, crema de fruta,etc., and if you are lucky, you will find videos too!

Friday, November 10, 2006

I will be on vacation...and I need help!

What HELP am I talking about?Well, I will be leaving for Canada in the first half of December to be with my (visiting) mom and my (immigrant) older sister. ("You must be excited to be with the people who eat the same things you do," hubby said. "Oh yeah!" I replied.)

As such, I will be leaving my boys (big and small) on their own.

Younger son: "We will just cook noodles every morning for our breakfast."Older son: "Ma, you can make more siopao, freeze them so we can have them for snacks." (Which I already did - have 1 dozen chicken siopao and beef asado siopao frozen now, along with a disastrous looking puto pao.)I said: "Hep, hep! You are talking only of food, but you have to think also about your laundry, watering the plants, keeping the house clean, and checking your lights and stove/oven."Younger son: "You should make a list of things to do."Older son: "And you should post instructions on how to do the laundry and everything..."

I have started "training" them for the routine. But I am still composing the daily schedule and instructions.

I am now thinking of what foods I can possibly prepare ahead, freeze, and then just instruct them on how to reheat these. So like I said, I have siopao and puto pao in the freezer. I also have two loaves of beef embutido (recipe by Iska). I am considering preparing poultry stuffing with chicken/mushroom sauce ready to pop in the oven, but I am not sure if this will turn out right. Also considering freezing chicken adobo but not sure if this comes out okay if reheated. What about par-baked rolls and how to make them so I can freeze them and re-bake for final browning? MY kids know how to cook mac and cheese, and hotdogs, but I would not want them to eat the same thing daily for two weeks. Husband is planning to buy pizza and Italian sandwiches more often. (He also said, "I will take care of the laundry while you are gone.")

I will greatly appreciate any suggestions (both on food and other things) that will help me prepare for my brief absence in my boys' lives.

5 comments:

Cook adobo(chicken or pork or both), it can be frozen and thawed and popped in the microwave. Basta marunong silang mag-saing, they'll survive. Then teach them different ways to cook omelette. Then buy those canned greens they can just microwave.

manang K, mahilig ba mga boys sa lasagna? i find that it's good for cutting up into dinner size portions and freezing.yung mga ulam nating ma-salsa (adobo, mechado, menudo) i found that they freeze well and reheat well in the microwave.sa fastfood meals naman, we like Boston Market roast chicken (or even the roast chicken fr the supermarket), mura, masarap, mainit.bread can be frozen well too--i do this all the time when loaves go on sale, and have done it w/ pandesal pag type kong mag imbak...just thaw in the refrigerator overnight.

KK, salamat sa input. Kelangan ko nga talaga turuan sila magluto ng omelette. Nakakaasar alang, I always have to tell them what to do, kahit me posted instructions na. I wonder if they will remember to refer to the posts when I am no longer with them?Stel, thanks sa ideas. Yung lasagna siguro, hayaan ko na lang hubby (that's one of his specialties). The rest, I will do! Baka lutuin ko sila (mga ado) on the last week of Nov.

hi manang, how exciting naman to see you mom and sis again. Talagang food trip yun. Me too, am going to see my fam again over the holidays and I know all I'm going to be doing is eating. At least the girls will be with me. Their poor dad will be home alone :)

it doesn't sound like your boys will be starving :) they will be fine.

JMom,The BIG boy (fafa) will be starving (hehe...). He already regrets having bought my tickets, as he already misses me.Kainan to the max, and the best thing is, once I am there, I am going to do some more bloghopping and see what I can prepare using Pinoy ingredients without having to worry whether hubby will eat or not (plenty of Pinoy stores around the area).

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About Manang

Filipina wife to an American in rural Maine. Used to work as a doctor before immigrating to the US. Currently a RN dabbling in natural skin care products while maintaining other interests in cooking, baking, real food movement, slow food movement, gardening, wild foraging, self-reliance, sustainability, and homecanning.